Foot visualizer



1945' A. s. CAMERON 2,332,131

FOOT VISUALIZER Filed Aug. 13, 1943- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 14, 1945. A.s. CAMERON FOOT VISUALIZER Filed Aug. 13, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fl 3T 29x /0 6 6 3 In verzT ALEXANDER .5. CAMERON Patented Aug. 14, 1945Alexander S. Cameron, Chicago, 111., assignorto William J. Cameron,Chicago, Ill.

Application August 13, 1943, Serial No. 498,495

3 Claims.

My present invention relates to a Visualizer or viewing apparatus andespecially a device which permits the viewing of the bottom of a personsfeet when the individual is in a standing position and supporting theweight 'of the body upon the feet. By means of this apparatus the areaso'f contact of the feet are clearly disclosed; as well as thedistribution of weight upon each foot. The arrangement of the parts ofthe apparatus are such that the entire bottom of eachfoot may'beobserved by the physician or attendant-making an examination and theseportions of the feet may also be seen by the patient himself merely bydirecting his sight in a downward direction while standing upon theapparatus. This permits the physician to readily diagnose ailments andimperfections or abnormalities which may be present and at the same timehe may demonstrate to the patient the extent of these abnormalities ordefects.

The structure embodies a translucent plate upon which the person stands;below which there is an oblique mirror which reflects the imageof thefoot in a manner that permits it to be viewed from outside the frame,and there is a second mirror which is disposed in an inclined planesothat the foot images are reflected by the second mirror in a vertical orupward direction towards the patients eyes. In order to accentuate thepoints of contact of the feet upon the plate 1 have provided meanswherebyv illumination may The transmitted longitudinally through theplate:1between the upper and lower surfaces thereof-so that the lightrays are substantially parallel to the faces of the plate for producingluminescent representations of the feet which accentuates the contactingportionsof the feet to such a degree that said contacting portions standout boldly as compared to the .non-contacting-portions of the feet.adapted for the purposes desired, this mode of illumination possessesthe advantage that it offectively prevents illumination or disclosure ofthe ankles or other portions of the persons limbs nor are extraneousobjects reflected by the mir rors, such as when the light rays from theilluminating source are either reflected or directed upwardlytowards'the bottom of the foot. Furthermore, thermal units .fromvthelight source moving in the direction of the light rays through the glassplate, will heat the latter by heat conduction. g 4

I have provided means for readily converting the structure into aminiature fdark-room wherein the patient may insert his foot to per-Aside from being quite well mit the physician or attendant to make afurther examination of the foot by means of a transilluminating device.'The walls of the structure are hinged so that they'are readily foldableinto positions whereby they provide a rectangular box-shaped structurefor storage. The arrangement of the parts of my Visualizer apparatus isquite' compact so that it occupies a relatively small space and it ismade in such manner that it may be quickly converted intoa miniaturedark-room without the us'e'of tools. In its performance my apparatus isefficient, and it is sturdily built so that it will'stand severe usage.Another advantage of my apparatus is that the physician may readily andgraphically demonstrate to the patient such defects and abnormalities'ashe may find in examining the foot; Furthermore, the apparatus iseconomical to manufacture and it may thereforebefsold at a reasonableretail price.

The numerous objectsand advantages'ofI'my apparatus will be apparent topersons skilled in the art after the construction and operation thereofis understood, and I prefer to'pra'ctice my "invention 'inthe mannerhereinafter "ex? plained. The accompanying drawings are referred to fora better understanding of my invention, and these drawings, while ofsomewhat schematic form, disclose the principles "of my Visualizer and atypical manner in which apparatus maybe made." In the drawings: K Figure1 is a'view in perspective of 'my' foot Visualizer. Figure '2' isaperspecuv similar to Figure '1 showing the apparatus converted into aminiature"dark-"room3' 3 1 7 Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectionof the'str'uctureshownin'Figure-l; Figure 4 is a planof myap l aratuswith apertion of the to'p'wall of the lamp house broken away. 1 v jFigure 5 is a transverse vertical section-on line 5''5 "of Figure 12. jiFigure 6 is avertioal section on line '6ii' of Figure3. j

My foot Visualizer embodies a, flat translucent member ID, preferably ofheavy pla'te glass, that provides a surface upon which the 'patient'isadapted to' stand,"and said plate is supported horizontally in the upperportion o f a skeleton framework made of angle-iron or the like. Thehorizontal angle-members H provide a'rectan gular framathe corners orwhich are supported by vertical angle-members l2 which 'provide a 7* r pAn obliquely disposed mirror 151s mounted on an inclined transversesupporting plate [6 which disposes it at an angle of 45 to the plane of.

position by longitudinally extended Z'-shaped" strips I! that areremovably secured to the supporting plate IE by screws l8 or the like.The lower edge of the mirror I5 is adjacent what may be termed the frontor viewing end of the apparatus, which is shown at the right hand end ofthe apparatus in the drawings. The other or upper end of the mirror isdisposed close to the adjacent portion of the glass plate l0 but it isspaced a farther distance from the rear end of the frame to providespace at the rear end fora suitable lamp house. Longitudinally disposedside walls I9 and 20 are connected to upper edges of the adjacentmargins of the apparatus by elongated piano-hinges 2| which permit thesewalls to be swung upwardly when desired to the positions shown inFigure2, the purpose of which will be later described.

At the front end of the apparatus there is an end 'wall 22 that isconnected at its lower edge by an elongated hinge 23 to the bottomportion of the adjacent end of the apparatus thus providing a hingeddoor that may be swung outwardly at its upper edge. Curved guide rods 24anchored to the side portions of the door 22 ope erate in suitable holesin the adjacent uprights or posts l2 when the door is moved and theyhave their inner ends bent laterally to-provide stops 25 which limit theoutward swing of the door. When the door has been opened to its fullestextent it-will be disposed in a plane substantially at .a right angle tothe plane of the mirror I5. The inner face of the door has a mirror 26secured to it by elongated Z-shaped strips 21. In the position justdescribed (with the door opened) the mirror 26 is adapted to reflect theimages of the feet, which are received from the mirror IS, in an upwardor vertical direction. 7

The lamp house hereinbefore mentioned embodies angular walls 28 one of,which is vertical and extends downward across the back of the upper edgeof mirror supporting plate l6, and the other wall extends horizontallytowards the end of the frame and is secured to the upper portions of theposts or Supports l2 at the; rear of the apparatus. A top wall plate 29extends across the adjacent rear portion of the glass plate' l0 andprojects to the rear of the frame where it is provided with adown-turned portion 30 having a lateral flange 3| to rest upon theadjacent portion of the horizontal wall of the lamp house abovementioned. There is a stud 32 extending upwardly. from the flange 3| tosupport a double electric socket 33 carrying elongated tubular lamps 34.

, As will be seen in Figure 3 the rear edge a: of the glass plate I0terminates at the edge of or between the corners of the lamp housewalls. A curved reflecting device 35 surrounds the tubular lamps 34, asseen in Figur 3, and said de vice is disposed so that .its edges, whichare spaced apart a slight distance, are close to the rear'edge x of theglass plate. The reflected rays as well as the direct rays from thelamps are thus concentrated to impinge upon the rear edge of the glassplate so that the light rays travel longitudinally through the glassplate substantially parallel with the upper and lower surfaces thereofwith the result that only a very small proportion of the light raysemerge laterally through the plate. Thus when the person is standingupon the plate ID the contacting portions of the bottom of the feet havea luminescent appearance and stand out sharply against the flesh ornatural color of the remaining or noncontacting portions of the feet.The images of the feet and the fluorescentcontacting portions may beobserved by the physician or attendant in th mirror l5. If desired, theattendant may have the patient look downward into the mirror 26 wherethe patient will observe the images of his feet which have beenreflected to this mirror by the mirror l5.

The radiant heat from the lamps 34, passing through the elongated slitbetween the edges of the reflector 35, will imping upon the adjacent endof the glass plate l0 and this heat will travel with the light raysthrough the plate I0 so that the glass is heated by the convectivetravel of the thermal units. In this manner the temperature of the glassplate is raised so that the patient will not be required to stand upon acold plate but upon one which is of approximately body temperature.

Th means for closing the rear portion of the apparatus embodies avertical-wall 36 having a piano-hinge 3'! connecting it with the upperrear end of the frame and it is provided with a large central openingthat is closed by an elastic or flexible diaphragm 38 having a normallyclosed slitted entrance opening. A supplementary or secondary wall 39 isfoldably connected by a pianohinge 40 to the lower edge of wall 36 andsaid secondary wall 39 has its upper free portion connected, by asuitable retainer or'latch 4!, with the upper portion of the rear wall36. Whenit is desired to convert the apparatusinto a miniaturedark-room]? side walls l9 and 20 are swung to the positions shown .inFigure 2, after which the latch 4| is released and walls 36 and 39 swungupwardly so that the wall 36" extends between the adjacent rear edges ofwalls l9 and 20 while the secondary wall 39 provides the top closure orceiling of the dark-room, the respective walls being maintained inposition by longitudinal flanges 42 along the edges of Wall 39 whichengage with the top margins of the side walls [9 and 20 as shown inFigure 2. When used in this manner the door 22 is preferably closed andthe lamps 34 extinguished to prevent extraneous light entering thedark-room. The patient inserts one foot through the diaphragm 38 and thephysician may then carefully examine the foot by a transilluminatinglamp 43 that is connected to the end of anelongated conductor cord 44leading from a socket element 45 on the exterior ofv the bottom wall ofthe lamp house, the current being controlled through a convenient snap.switch 46. The patient may observe his foot during thistransillumination inspection through the window glass plate III to thetwo-way socket 33 in the lamp house.

This apparatus is Well-adapted for quickly making of an accurate chartor case-record of a patients feet to permit a permanent record beingkept for future reference by the physician. Prior to the patientstanding upon the glass plate a coating of talcum powder is applied tothe entire bottoms of both feet. As soon as the person stands uprightupon the apparatus an outline of each foot is marked on the glass platewith a suitable pencil, chalk, or the like, and later, when the feethave been lifted from the plate the contact areas thereof will appearupon the top surface of the plate due to adherence of the powder to theglass. The physician or attendant then positions on the glass agraph-sheet of thin paper or other translucent material upon which hetraces the outlines of the feet and their contact areas with alead-pencil, pen, or other stylus. By this means a permanent record maybe kept which clearly shows the distribution of the body weight uponeach foot, as Well as defects or abnormalities which may be found by thephysicians examination .and diagnosis. Any sterilizing agent orgermicidal may be used to wipe the surface of the glass after use by apatient to render it suitable for the next person.

What I claim' is: I

1. Apparatus of the kind described embodying a box-shaped supportingframe having fixed top and bottom walls; vertical rear and side-walls;hinges at the upper edges of said rear and sidewalls adapting them to bemoved to vertical positions above said frame; a supplementary wallnormally parallel with said rear wall; and a hinge connecting thenormally lower edges of said rear and supplementary Walls, said hingeadapting said supplementary wall to be extended to provide a cover forsaid rear and side-walls when the latter are moved to vertical positionsabove said frame.

2. Apparatus of the kind described embodying a box-shaped supportingframe having fixed top and bottom walls; vertical rear and side-walls;

hinges at the upper edges of said rear and sidewalls adapting them to bemoved to vertical positions above said frame; a supplementary wallnormally parallel with saidrear wall; a hinge connecting the normallylower edges of said rear and supplementary walls, said hinge adaptingsaid supplementary wall to be extended to provide a cover for said rearand side-walls when the latter are moved to vertical positions abovesaid frame; said rear wall provided with an opening of substantialdimensions; and a flexible slitted diaphragm extending across said rearwall opening.

3. A foot Visualizer comprising top and bottom open frames; upstandingposts vertically spacing said frames to provide an open box-shapedsupport; a translucent plate closing the upper frame and affording afoot support for a person standing thereon; an electric lamp at an edgeof said translucent plate for producing luminescent representations ofthe soles of the feet; vertical walls closing the rear and sides of saidbox-shaped support, said walls having swinging connections between theirupper edges and the rear and sides of said top frame whereby said wallsmay be moved from their normal closure positions to vertical positionsextending above the translucent plate; a slitted diaphragm closing anopening in the rear wall; a secondary Wall hinged to the normally loweredge of said rear wall, and adapted to be disposed upon the side wallswhen the latter are moved to their upstanding positions above thetranslucent plate for providing a closure; a mirror within said supportbeneath said translucent plate for reflecting through the front supportthe images received from said translucentplate; and an oblique mirroroutside said support adapted to reflect in an upward direction theimages refiected out of the support by the first mirror, said obliqueoutside mirror being hinged at its lower edge to said bottom frame forswinging movement towards said support to close the front end thereof.

ALEXANDER S. CAMERON.

